Italy sends first data watchdog request to DeepSeek: ‘The data of millions of Italians is at risk’

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1. Italy sends first data watchdog request to DeepSeek: ‘The data of millions of Italians is at risk’

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, has been criticized by data protection watchdogs, including Euroconsumers, for handling personal data in relation to GDPR. The Italian Data Protection Authority has filed a complaint with DeepSeek, requesting information on the company's handling of personal data, sources, and purposes, as well as the legal basis for processing.

The Italian DPA also wants more details on the servers in China and how DeepSeek protects minors. The European Commission has not yet commented on any investigations into DeepSeek's security, privacy, or censorship, but the EU remains open to potential issues.

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2. Grok 3 seemingly went live for some users

Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, is nearing the release of its next model, Grok 3, which can analyze images and respond to questions. Users on X, including reverse engineer Alexey Shabanov, reported gaining access to Grok 3 via the Grok chatbot app.

Despite some issues, Grok 3 has been able to answer riddles and field requests, including a roulette wheel casino code. Musk has blamed the model's behavior on public web pages and pledged to shift it closer to politically neutral.

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3. Pika 2.1 now available!

4. Netflix-linked AI video model may look janky, but it's a groundbreaking advance

Researchers from Netflix, Netflix Eyeline Studios, Stony Brook University, University of Maryland, and Stanford University have developed Go-with-the-Flow, an AI video generator that allows users to control motion patterns in video diffusion models. The model allows users to animate objects by selecting an object and defining a trajectory by dragging, similar to a mask in video editing software.

The model fine-tunes a base model without changing the original pipeline or architecture, except for using warped noise instead of pure Gaussian noise. It also allows motion transfer and can create turntable animations using a 3D-rendered camera motion.

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5. DeepSeek-R1’s bold bet on reinforcement learning: How it outpaced OpenAI at 3% of the cost

DeepSeek-R1, an open-source AI model, has captivated developers and challenged enterprises to rethink their AI strategies. It matches OpenAI's o1 at 3%-5% of the cost, offering an alternative to costly proprietary models.

The model's search feature is superior to competitors like OpenAI and Perplexity, and is rivaled only by Google's Gemini Deep Research. This breakthrough challenges assumptions of OpenAI's dominance and offers a blueprint for cost-efficient innovation.

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